FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 2010

An innovative social experience that will see tribe members visit John Obey Beach in Sierra Leone to help build a sustainable, eco-friendly community has decided to offer a free place in the tribe via sweepstakes that will end on the 1st October.

October will mark the official launch of the second Tribewanted project, a groundbreaking social experiment that was initially launched in 2006 on the Fijian island of Vorovoro and has since injected more than $1million into that local economy.

The new project will be based on John Obey Beach in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and tribewanted.com and Kevin McPhillips Travel, Tribewanted’s travel partner, are offering the chance for one person to win a free place to become a tribe member.

The winner will be decided from sweepstakes available through a link on the Tribewanted Facebook page; fans are required to submit their details in order to enter and can enter once every day to increase their chance of winning the place.

The sweepstakes will run up until 1st October 2010 and are open to entrants from the UK, US, Italy, Germany, Mexico, France and Canada.

The person awarded with the free trip to join the tribe will be involved in the project from the very first stage, helping with the building of an eco-village community which is aimed at supporting sustainable development in the area.

The overall aim of the new Tribewanted project is to attract people to Sierra Leone and project the image of a nation that has been called a top 10 tourism destination by Lonely Planet, which describes the Freetown Peninsula beaches as the best in West Africa, as well as offering an adventurous and inspiring experience for tribe members.

The grand prize from the Tribewanted sweepstakes will allow 1 person the chance to visit the John Obey Beach project for one week as ‘first footers’, so the winner will be involved with the very beginning of the project.

The prize includes one week with the tribe, return flights, a local boat to the beach and Visa. Travellers insurance is the only thing not included in the prize.

To win the free place on John Obey Beach, people are required to visit the Tribewanted Facebook page and enter via a custom tab entitled ‘Free trip!’

Ben Keene, founder of Tribewanted, commented on the prize;

“We’re very excited about the start of the Tribewanted project in Sierra Leone and it’s great that, along with Kevin McPhillips Travel , we’re able to offer someone the chance to join us on the beach at no cost to him or her. The winning tribe member will be able to experience the project near to the start and can choose to be involved with earth bag building, permaculture, beach football, river-canoeing, jungle treks, fishing and of course, plenty of hammock time.”

“Tribewanted isn’t a structured volunteering project; it’s more about joining a living community for a few weeks. Tribe members can relax and enjoy the experience as if it were any other holiday; the only difference is, they are living alongside a local community and their money and time is contributing towards the development of a village they will start to feel part of.”

ENDS

Images, videos and interviews are available on request.

For more information, please contact Shannon Haigh, 10 Yetis Public Relations on shannon@10yetis.co.uk or 01452 348 211.

EDITORS NOTES

Sierra Leone: Facts
Capital: Freetown
Population: 6.3 million (2008 estimate)
Language: Krio, the queen’s english mixed with tribal dialects
Time: GMT
Visas: On arrival £50 / $80
Money: Leone 5500 to the £ / 4000 to the $
Health: Bring yellow fever certificate and anti-malarials

Tribewanted Sierra Leone: Facts
•   Six hour flight from London or Brussels approx £550 / $850 rtn > sierraleonetravel.com
•   Local transfer from airport direct to the beach £65 / $100 rtn
•   7 nights / all meals / donation to village development £295 / $450
•   Project open October-June annually during the dry season
•   Partners: Shine on Sierra Leone, Cal Earth, Sea Bright Solar, Kevin McPhillips Travel

Tribewanted Fiji: Facts
•   Collectively invested $1m / £650,000 into the local economy in Northern Fiji in first 3 years.
•   1100 international ‘tribe members’ have visited Vorovoro for an average of two weeks since September 2006, the project is ongoing.
•   Built an online community of over 10,000 tribe members
•   Generated 20 full-time local jobs and fundraising for four villages
•   Supported the development of the local school and communities
•   Built an island village, complete with traditional bure style accommodation, compost toilets, solar and wind energy, and a livestock and vegetable farm
•   Raised awareness about and made changes towards more sustainable living at home, see MSC study here.
•   Won media and business awards, recorded an album, had a five part BBC TV series made, published a book and hosted four of the Fijian community in the UK in 2009